Pitcher, New York Giants
Age: 33 (June 22)
9th season
with Giants
Bats – Right,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’0” Weight: 170
Prior to 1936:
Born in Missouri, Hubbell grew up in Meeker, Oklahoma, where he pitched well in high school with a fastball and curve. Following graduation, he joined Cushing of the Oklahoma State League in 1923. By 1925 Hubbell was with Oklahoma City of the Class A Western League where, having added a screwball to his repertoire, he produced a 17-13 record with a 4.01 ERA. The Detroit Tigers purchased his contract after the season, but during 1926 spring training he was forbidden from using the screwball due to the increased prospect of suffering an arm injury. Sent to Toronto of the Class AA International League, Hubbell was a disappointing 7-7 with a 3.77 ERA while disallowed from throwing the screwball. Demoted to Decatur of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa (or Three-I) League in 1927, Hubbell was a respectable 14-7 with a 2.53 ERA, but the Tigers sold his contract to the Beaumont Exporters of the Class A Texas League in 1928 where he was able to again utilize the screwball. Compiling a 12-9 record with a 2.97 ERA by midseason his contract was purchased by the Giants for $30,000. Hubbell ended up going 10-6 for the Giants with a 2.83 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 124 innings pitched. He followed up with an 18-11 record in 1929 with a 3.69 ERA and 106 strikeouts over 268 innings. Along the way he pitched a no-hitter against Pittsburgh. The lanky southpaw was 17-12 for the third place Giants in 1930, with a 3.87 ERA (which ranked second in the NL in a year dominated by hitting in which the league mien ERA was 4.97) and 117 strikeouts. His 1931 record was 14-12 with a 2.65 ERA and 155 strikeouts. 1932 was a year of transition for the Giants as the talented but irascible long-time manager John McGraw was replaced by Bill Terry during the season. Hubbell contributed an 18-11 record for the sixth-place club with a 2.50 ERA and 137 strikeouts. The Giants won the pennant in 1933 and Hubbell led the NL in wins with his 23-12 tally and topped the circuit with 10 shutouts and a 1.66 ERA. He was selected as league MVP for the first time and won two more games in the World Series victory over the Washington Senators. The Giants were strong contenders again in 1934 and Hubbell compiled a 21-12 record with a league-leading 2.30 ERA and 25 complete games. During the All-Star Game at the Polo Grounds, he struck out five consecutive future Hall of Fame batters (Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of the Yankees, Jimmie Foxx of the A’s, Al Simmons of the White Sox & Joe Cronin of the Senators). Hubbell, who came to be referred to as “King Carl” and “the Meal Ticket” due to his consistency and reliability, was outstanding again in 1935 as he went 23-12 with a 3.27 ERA and 150 strikeouts while pitching 302.2 innings.
1936 Season Summary
Appeared in 42 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 42 [12, tied with Dick Coffman & Ed Heusser]
Complete Games
– 25 [2]
Wins – 26 [1]
Losses – 6
PCT - .813 [1]
Saves – 3 [10,
tied with six others]
Shutouts – 3 [8]
Innings Pitched
– 304 [3]
Hits – 265 [8]
Runs – 81
Earned Runs – 78
Home Runs – 7
Bases on Balls
– 57
Strikeouts – 123
[4]
ERA – 2.31 [1]
Hit Batters – 5
[9, tied with nine others]
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 3
League-leading wins
were +2 ahead of runner-up Dizzy Dean
League-leading
win percentage was +.024 ahead of runner-up Red Lucas
League-leading shutouts were +3 ahead of runner-up Hal Schumacher
League-leading
innings pitched were +15.2 ahead of runner-up Dizzy Dean
League-leading
ERA was -0.56 lower than runner-up Danny MacFayden
Midseason
Snapshot: 10-5, ERA - 2.67, SO - 61 in 145 IP
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Most
strikeouts, game – 7 (in 7 IP) vs. Chi. Cubs 6/28
10+ strikeout
games – 0
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 4 (in 9 IP) vs. Pittsburgh 8/2, (in 9 IP) at St.
Louis Cards 9/3, (in 9 IP) vs. Chi. Cubs 9/11, (in 9 IP) at Brooklyn 9/19, (in
8.2 IP) at Cincinnati 5/4
Batting
PA – 123, AB – 110, R – 9, H – 25, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 8, BB – 3, SO – 14, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .227, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 10, SF – N/A
Fielding
Chances - 81
Put Outs – 14
Assists – 65
Errors – 2
DP – 7
Pct. - .975
Postseason
Pitching: G – 2 (World Series vs. NY Yankees)
GS – 2, CG – 1,
Record – 1-1 PCT – .500, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 16, H – 15, R – 5, ER – 4, HR – 2,
BB – 2, SO – 10, ERA – 2.25, HB – 1, BLK – 0, WP – 1
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
All-Star
Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:
Carl Hubbell,
NYG: 60 pts. – 100% share
Dizzy Dean,
StLC.: 53 pts. – 88% share
Billy Herman,
ChiC.: 37 pts. – 62% share
Joe Medwick,
StLC.: 30 pts. – 50% share
Paul Waner, Pitt.: 29 pts. – 48% share
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Giants went 92-62 to win the NL pennant by 5 games over the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (3.46). In fifth place on July 1, the Giants exploded in August, propelled by a 15-game winning streak and Hubbell winning 16 straight decisions to close out the season while overtaking the Cubs and Cardinals. Lost World Series to the New York Yankees, 4 games to 2. Lou Gehrig’s 2-run home run off of Hubbell in Game 4 helped the Yankees take a commanding 3-games-to-1 lead.
Aftermath of ‘36:
The Giants made it two straight pennants in 1937 as Hubbell’s regular season winning streak reached 24 games as he prevailed in his first 8 decisions on his way to a 22-8 tally and 3.20 ERA while topping the NL with 159 strikeouts. In 1938, elbow pain due to throwing the screwball prematurely ended Hubbell’s season with a 13-10 record and 3.07 ERA as he needed surgery to remove bone chips. He remained with the Giants until 1943 and continued to be an effective, if no longer dominant, pitcher. He won 11 games each year from 1939 to ’42, and his 11-12 record in 1940 was the only sub-.500 performance of his career. His 2.75 ERA in 1939 was his best during the same four-year timeperiod. His career came to an end after the 1943 season, by which point his left hand was deformed from years of throwing the screwball. Upon his retirement following 16 seasons with the Giants, Hubbell had a 253-154 record with five 20-win records, a 2.98 ERA, 36 shutouts, and 1677 strikeouts over 3590.1 innings pitched. In the postseason, he produced a 4-2 record with four complete games and 32 strikeouts over 50.1 innings. In addition to being a two-time MVP, he was a nine-time All-Star. Hubbell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947 and the Giants retired his #11. Upon the end of his playing career, the Giants made Hubbell the team’s director of player development, a position he held for 35 years, well after the franchise’s move to San Francisco. He remained a scout for the club until his death in 1988 at the age of 85.
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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.
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